No dispute on SEZ issue, says Hooda
New Delhi, December 31
Across the country, Special Economic Zones may be facing impediments but as far as Haryana is concerned there appears to be no problem. In the words of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, “there is no dispute as far as the issue of SEZs in the state is concerned”.

More nutrition for women, kids
Chandigarh, December 31
The Haryana Government’s New Year resolution comes packed with a new nutrition policy under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme. In practical terms, it means that the world for women will change, especially in the rural Haryana where the programme will specifically target children, lactating and pregnant women and adolescent girls.

2006 — Year of development for Kaithal district
Kaithal, December 31
During 2006, the state government sanctioned development projects worth more than Rs 100 crore for the district. A majority of these were meant for district headquarter town of Kaithal.

Making villages litigation free
Chandigarh, December 31
With a view to bring litigation in villages to the minimum level and eventually make them “litigation free”, the Haryana Legal Services Authority (HLSA) has launched a special project, “People’s Initiative for Justice”.

Deaths go unregistered
Yamunanagar, December 31
The Haryana Police has failed to get deaths due to accidents or bodies found in public places registered with the Registrar of Birth and Death. Several district
registrars, birth and death, in the state have lodged a complaint with the chief registrar that police officials were not registering the deaths due to which victims’ families were facing difficulties in getting death certificates.

Three die in road mishap
Jhajjar, December 31
Three persons were killed and eight injured when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck on the
Jhajjar-Sampla road near Chhara village here today.

SHO told to settle graveyard issue
Yamunanagar, December 31
The Jagadhri Municipal Committee had to stop the construction of a graveyard’s boundary wall at Teli Majra village located on the Jagadhri - Ambala national highway after a few villagers complained that the wall was coming up on their land.

2.54 lakh child labourers identified
Rewari, December 31
As many as 2.54 lakh child labourers have been identified in Haryana, whose liberation-cum-rehabilitation concerns needed to be addressed urgently.

Protest against Saddam’s hanging
Rewari, December 31
Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre Of India held a
demonstration here in protest against the hanging of the former Iraq President Saddam Hussein.

New Delhi, December 31
Across the country, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) may be facing impediments but as far as Haryana is concerned there appears to be no problem. In the words of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, “there is no dispute as far as the issue of SEZs in the state is concerned”.

Interestingly, the Chief Minister choose to make this statement despite the state having been a witness to several protests against acquisitions of agricultural land for proposed SEZs in the past. But, Mr Hooda, in an informal chat today, dismissed the fact saying that there was no dispute as far as SEZs in Haryana were concerned and that farmers were very happy with the state government on its policies on land acquisition and compensation.

On protests sparked by acquisition of agricultural land for industrialisation in Singur in West Bengal, Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and other states, the Chief Minister said Haryana had fixed a minimum land acquisition rate of Rs 25 lakh per acre in the NCR region.

“In comparison other states are paying a pittance as compensation to farmers whose lands were being acquired,” he said, adding that “farmers are using this money to buy agricultural land in other states, residential properties, cars…they are very happy”.

However, another side of the story is that with land prices literally going through the roof, the Rs 25-lakh compensation per acre the state government is providing is proving to be inadequate for commercial hot spots like Gurgaon.

State officials say that in Gurgaon land price per acre was touching the magic figure of Rs 1 crore, leading to a lot of heartburn among those farmers whose land had already been acquired or was in process of being acquired.

Moreover, despite the state government’s claims that it will not be involved in the land acquisition process, the fact is to main the contiguity of a SEZ, it will have to pitch in to acquire “difficult patches”, if any.

Of the 230-plus SEZs to have been given a go-ahead by the Union Ministry of Commerce, Haryana happens to be one of those states in the country that have the maximum number of special economic zones.

As of now, of the 69 SEZs to come up in Haryana, the state government has given a no-objection certificate to just one SEZ, Orient Craft, situated near Gurgaon. Even the much-publicised Reliance SEZ is yet to get an NOC as its land acquisition process is not complete.

Meanwhile, for the better management of power in the state, Haryana is coming up with a plan that is almost unique in concept and design. The Chief Minister told The Tribune that by 2007, the power in the state would be distributed trough four channels, rural-domestic, agriculture, urban-domestic and industry.

This, he said, would solve the problem of theft of power and also ensure its better management. The aim of the new plan was to generate additional 5,000 MW in the coming three years. “ Priorities of the state government will be to tackle the problems of water, electricity and unemployment,” he added.

Chandigarh, December 31
The Haryana Government’s New Year resolution comes packed with a new nutrition policy under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP). In practical terms, it means that the world for women will change, especially in the rural Haryana where the programme will specifically target children, lactating and pregnant women and adolescent girls.

While their diet will pack more nutrition, women in the rural areas will gain both in terms of money and their say in the implementation of the SNP. The liberalised SNP for children in the six months to six years age group, lactating and pregnant women, and adolescent girls in the 15,000 rural anganwadis of Haryana will no longer be in the hands of contractors.

Beginning January 1, village-level women's committees which have already been constituted, will step into to implement the programme through local women's self-help groups (SHGs). The SHGs will be paid for their expenses and labour, thus generating income for nearly 75,000 rural women.

Disclosing this to The Tribune, an official of the state government said that the government had raised the financial norms under SNP for children from Rs 2 to Rs 3 per day and for women and girls from Rs 2.50 to Rs 5 per
day, making it the highest in the country.

Out of these amounts, the SHGs will receive Re 1 per beneficiary per day for transport, fuel, labour charges, etc. Mothers will be actively associated with these groups. The menu will be decided by the village-level committees based on the preferences of beneficiary mothers and children, local availability of raw materials and ingredients and nutritional norms of the scheme brought out in booklet form by the Department of Women and Child, Haryana.

The committees will be at liberty to vary the menu as per requirements and fix distribution schedules (daily or weekly). These panels will also be free to decide between hot cooked or ready-to-eat food items and to include fruits etc.

Each SHG will be given Rs 5,000 for infrastructural support for buying utensils, etc. Funds on the basis of number of beneficiaries and their entitlement will be deposited in the bank accounts of the SHGs a month in advance. This is bound to change the world for women in rural Haryana, give them added confidence and do a deadly blow to the menace of gender bias.

Kaithal, December 31
During 2006, the state government sanctioned development projects worth more than Rs 100 crore for the district. A majority of these were meant for district headquarter town of Kaithal.

The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, laid the foundation stones of a railway overbridge and a multi-speciality hospital in Sector 18 here. He also inaugurated buildings of a cooperative bank and DIET.

The Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, presided over two functions here during the past few months. He gave awards to teachers and social workers and others at a state-level function organised by the administration on the occasion of World Literacy Day. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajinder Kataria, was among those honoured by the Governor for their outstanding contribution to the campaign.

In November, the Governor, accompanied by the Chief Minister, laid the foundation stone for the renovation work of the historic Bidhikayar Tank that would be renovated at a cost of Rs 10 crore and given the shape of a lake.

An amount of more than Rs 50 crore has been sanctioned for the improvement of sewerage in the town and laying new drinking water supply lines. The execution of these projects is in the advanced stage and the residents of the town will soon benefit from these schemes. Mr Naveen Jindal, MP, and Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, local MLA, had been taking keen interest in the development of the area.

The district administration also took a number of steps to improve the functioning of government offices and making these become more responsive to the people.

The district witnessed a marked improvement in law and order situation and the police kept criminals and extortionists on the run and eliminated hardcore criminal Rajesh Buddanpur in an encounter. After the murder of a local plywood dealer, Narinder Arora, in March, the police built pressure on criminals and some of them fled the country. It also unearthed a major telecom scam in which some companies were issuing mobile phone connection on the basis of forged documents.

A number of gangs of vehicle lifters, thieves and poppy husk smugglers were also busted.

Chandigarh, December 31
With a view to bring litigation in villages to the minimum level and eventually make them “litigation free”, the Haryana Legal Services Authority (HLSA) has launched a special project, “People’s Initiative for Justice”.

Disclosing this here on Thursday, the member-secretary of the HLSA, Mr Shekhar Dhawan, said under this project, rural Lok Adalats were being organised in the state. In these rural Lok Adalats, all pending cases in the courts as well as cases at pre-litigative stage of the villages would be taken up for settlement. Prominent respectable people of the villages were also being involved in the process of sorting out cases amicably.

These Lok Adalats were also proving to be an effective platform for spreading legal literacy among the masses. The information about free legal aid and legal rights and duties of a common man were being explained to the masses in their local language through the medium of skits and ‘nukkar nataks’ which were being performed by the state Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Department.

The HLSA had also released a CD, “Savera”, containing information regarding the concept of free legal aid. A special drive had also been launched in collaboration with the Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Department to spread legal literacy by distributing the relevant literature in all 6,700 villages of the state and showing the CD to people through mobile vans.

He said during 2006, 65 Rural Lok Adalats were organised by the HLSA, in which 9053 cases were settled. A sum of Rs 93.61 lakh was awarded as compensation in 93 cases of motor accidents.

Yamunanagar, December 31
The Haryana Police has failed to get deaths due to accidents or bodies found in public places registered with the Registrar of Birth and Death. Several district
registrars, birth and death, in the state have lodged a complaint with the chief registrar that police officials were not registering the deaths due to which victims’ families were facing difficulties in getting death certificates.

Under the section 8 (D) of the Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969, it is obligatory for the SHOs (or in charge of police stations) to get the deaths under any circumstances registered with the registrar concerned but the same was not being followed.

Taking a serious note of such lapses, the Chief Registrar, Birth and
Death, and the Director, Haryana Health Services, have written to all Senior Superintendents of Police to issue necessary orders to the in charge of all police stations of the state in this regard. According to the chief registrar, about 10 to 15 per cent of deaths go unregistered in the state.

As per the chief registrar only 85 to 90 per cent deaths and births were being registered. He, however, claimed that awareness regarding the civil registration system was spreading among masses as few years ago 40 per cent incidents used to go unregistered. The copy of the letter had also been sent to all district registrars and civil surgeons.

Jhajjar, December 31
Three persons were killed and eight injured when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck on the
Jhajjar-Sampla road near Chhara village here today.

The deceased were identified as Bimlesh (35) Kuldeep (20) residents of Chhara village and Maneesh of Beri village. The vehicle was going to Chhara village when a truck coming from Jhajjar side rammed into it. Poor visibility due to heavy fog was stated the reason of the accident. The driver of the truck fled the spot but was arrested from Jhajjar town.

Two of the injured, Sonu and Rishal Singh — were referred to the PGIMS Rohtak in critical condition while six others, Vishal, Vikas,
Harkesh, Harbhan, Sahja and Ravi were discharged after first aid. A case has been registered against the truck driver for causing death due to rash and negligent driving.

Yamunanagar, December 31
The Jagadhri Municipal Committee had to stop the construction of a graveyard’s boundary wall at Teli Majra village located on the Jagadhri - Ambala national highway after a few villagers complained that the wall was coming up on their land.

Sant Ram, Bachna Ram and Sumer Chand, all residents of Teli Majra village, allege that a public land was being encroached upon by the committee for constructing the wall. Due to this the floor of Ravi Dass temple has caved in.

On the other hand, Asgar Ali, a villager, claimed the committee started the construction work on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner.

The villagers had reportedly lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. The Superintendent of Police talked to villagers and directed the SHO concerned to call both parties and solve the issue.

Rewari, December 31
As many as 2.54 lakh child labourers have been identified in Haryana, whose liberation-cum-rehabilitation concerns needed to be addressed urgently.

This was stated by Ms Jyoti Setia, Vice-chairperson of the Central Child Labour Advisory Board, at a press conference here.

Describing child labour a social evil which was posing a serious challenge, she informed that three welfare projects comprising education and rehabilitation of such children had already been implemented in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Panipat districts, while 12 such projects were in the pipeline which would be implemented soon.

Jhajjar, December 31
The farmers of Badli region have come up with the idea of conditional acquisition of their land for the proposed special economic zone (SEZ) by Reliance Industries Limited.

They organised a panchayat at Sondhi village here today The panchayat was held under the banner of the Kisan Jagrukata Samiti. It was presided over by Pt Nityanand of Yakubpur village. The panchayat decided that farmers would give land to Reliance on lease and would not hand-over the ownership of the same. They also demanded Rs 2 crore per acre for the same.

Other demands of the farmers included a plot in the SEZ, 25 per cent reservation of jobs for the local persons, a share in the profit of the company, compensation as regards of streets and ways, to the village panchayats, text of the agreement should be in Hindi, all terms and conditions should be clearly explained to the farmers, etc. The panchayat insisted on a meeting with senior officials of Reliance Industries for elaborating further on their conditions.

However, the panchayat was silent over the fate of the farmers who had already sold off their land. The panchayat leaders held they would continue their agitation and the series of panchayats would be held in the days to come if their demands were not met. They also urged the farmers not to go to Reliance offices, set up in Jhajjar for selling their land. The panchayat organisers included Mahabir Gulia and Mahender Gulia, both office-bearers of the INLD.

Rewari, December 31
Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre Of India (SUCI) held a
demonstration here in protest against the hanging of the former Iraq President Saddam Hussein.

Carrying boards and banners decrying hanging of Saddam Hussein, they took out protest rally from main roads and markets of the town. The demonstration was led by comrade Vijay Kumar, district secretary and comrade Rajender Singh, a member of the state committee of the SUCI.

Denouncing the Bush government in this regard, they urged the UPA government to snap India’s ties with the United States of America.